papa’s picnic potato salad

Wow! Yesterday I asked my readers on facebook if they like their potato salad with or without mustard, and the responses started pouring in! I knew people were passionate about this, but I had no idea they cared that much.

I promised to post my favorite recipe for potato salad today, and to reveal whether or not I include the yellow stuff in mine.

No. I do not. I think mustard is for hot dogs, not potato salad. hee hee. 😉 same goes for relish. A few of my facebook peeps like chopped up pickles in theirs. Hmmmmm….

I think it all has to do with what we got use to as kids. My Papa, in my opinion, makes the best potato salad in the universe. It’s simple and fantastic. Hope you give it a try and see for yourself, even if you’re a mustard fan.

8 large russet potatoes, peeled or unpeeled

8-10 hard boiled eggs, chilled

2 cups real mayonnaise (or a little more, if needed) we use Hellmann’s

1 bunch green onions, chopped (including the tops)

1 large bunch (about 8-10) red radishes, sliced

paprika

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Wash and peel potatoes (or leave them unpeeled if you like the skins.) Cut into big, uniform chunks and place in a large pot of boiling water. Boil until fork tender…don’t let them go until they’re mushy. Peel the eggs and chop them up (or just slice them if you like bigger pieces.) Place them along with the green onion, and the radishes, in a big mixing bowl.

Once the potatoes are done, drain them well and allow them to cool. (I remove them to seperate bowls so they cool faster.) Once cool, cut into uniform, bite size pieces and put them in the bowl with the eggs and veggies. Carefully and gently stir in the mayonnaise. Season with paprika, salt and pepper to taste. We like a lot of paprika, but it’s totally a matter of preference.

Transfer the potato salad to a bowl with a lid and chill completely before serving.

Hi Movita! What is it about this potato salad that makes it so darn good? So few ingredients, and yet, when you put them all together…magic! 🙂 We make a huge batch and then pretty much eat it for every meal until it’s gone. LOL!

This does sound like a good recipe, Melissa. I agree, this is one of those recipes that people probably prefer what they had growing up.

I’ve never made potato salad…that’s a dish I generally left for others to make. However, my mother (of course!) made a great one. The one thing I learned from her was to season your potatoes while they’re hot(after they’re drained), so the seasoning will absorb better…I do this with my mashed potatoes, and it works great!

You’ve inspired me to try my hand at making potato salad, now. Thanks for sharing your papa’s recipe…first time I’ve seen radishes used in a potato salad!

Hello there Bonnie! I’m so happy this recipe inspired you! I love your idea for seasoning the potatoes. What a great tip 🙂 Thanks so much for visiting my little corner of the internet, and for commenting! Enjoy. XOXO

Hey there, sweet Melissa! Just want to let you know that several years ago in Florida I was raving about a friend’s potato salad… she didn’t have a recipe, she said, but always just made it, had been making it for years. However, the secret, she said, is to use as many eggs as potatoes and really good mayo! I’ve always known how brilliant YOU are, and now I know that my friend in Florida really knows her way around the kitchen! 🙂 xoxoxo

I do not like mustard in my potato salad and my husband does like mustard in his. When I make it, I make it more like your recipe, the way my mother always made it. When he buys at the deli, he always gets the mustardy kind. Sometimes I wonder how we have made it almost 40 years together…

Hi there, Beverley! thanks for visiting 🙂 I think the trick is to just keep the recipe really simple. There are so many people that add mustard and pickles and all sorts of other things…I like mine uncomplicated. hee hee…XOXO! Have a fantastic weekend!

You’re right, it’s all about what you grew up with. We would never think of putting eggs in our potato salad, that’s a totally different thing… potato and egg salad..:-). And it has to be hellmans mayo, but my mother sometimes put in pickle relish ,sometimes not, it all depended on her mood !

mmmmm! I like a little relish in mine sometimes too, Mary 😉 I love all sorts of potato salads…Amish, German, baby red with asparagus and grainy mustard dressing, and even the healthier stuff tossed with greek yogurt in place of some of the mayo with a little chopped mint! But, nothing beats my Papa’s potato salad. hee hee… XO and thanks for stopping by to leave a comment.

i make my potato salad simple potato,celery, onion, and hard boiled eggs and mayonaise never mustard or pickles if i made it any other way my family would shoot me now i do like lots of different things in macaroni salad